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Izote, Mexico City

Concierge.com's insider take:

In Mexico, it's the women who cook, and it's women who consequently get famous for food. Patricia Quintana, after countless cookbooks and TV appearances, is probably the country's best-known chef. Appropriately situated in the Gucci-Vuitton row of Polanco, her home base is full of well-dressed business people who, though they appear to have more fun than their counterparts back home, lend Izote a serious air. The Aztec-shtick decor and too-bright lights do nothing for the atmosphere, but the food is exceptional. Quintana tinkers with pre-Columbian ingredients and traditional dishes, and the results can be mind-blowing. Setas (oyster mushrooms) in bitter orange vinaigrette and crusted rib eye with apple and sweet potato puree are the kinds of things she does best.